Under One Person: The Sea Emperor Who Shattered Heaven and Earth

Li Muxuan knelt among the pile of rocks, listening to Changqing bring back the words "I'm sorry," and felt as if his soul had been ripped out.

He stood there blankly for a long time, staring at the pebbles at his feet, as if the cracks in those stones held a microcosm of his more than ten years of wandering.

Suddenly, he began to laugh, the laughter turning from low to manic, sounding particularly jarring in the deathly silent dock.

"Hahaha……"

The laughter abruptly stopped, replaced by heart-wrenching wails.

Li Muxuan suddenly bent over, his forehead slamming heavily against the sharp edge of the stone. The dull thud of flesh hitting stone was painful to hear. Blood streamed down his forehead, mingling with his tears, staining his face a mess.

"Master Zuo... I'm sorry, everyone from back then, I'm so sorry!"

Li Muxuan's voice had become hoarse from overexertion, but he continued to roar as if he wanted to vent all the pent-up emotions of the past few decades.

“I didn’t want it to… I didn’t want things to turn out like that!” He dug his fingers into the cracks in the rubble. “Back at Yinghe Tower, I was actually thinking—what if I could make a friend or two there? What if? But my bad temper ruined everything… I’m a jerk! I’m a hopeless wretch!”

He raised his head, his face a mess, and looked at Shuiyun and Changqing. The previous gloom was gone from his eyes, leaving only the most primal regret.

"Master Zuo, Li Muxuan knows he was wrong. All my dealings with Sanyi stem from that very first deception. You asked me why I joined Sanyi, and I said I wanted to obtain the Dharma. But what does a child of a few years old know about the Dharma!"

Li Muxuan smiled bitterly, his body trembling violently from the spasms.

“My father often associates with eminent people, but of all of them, only your demeanor I admire the most! I'm not just ‘admiring the profound,’ I simply admire you! I want to become someone like you… Master Zuo, I'm sorry…”

His voice gradually faded, from a roar to a sob, and then to a murmured weeping. Blood was still flowing from his forehead. He lay prostrate on the ground, not rising for a long time.

Shuiyun looked at Li Muxuan kneeling on the ground, then at Changqing, who simply shook his head.

……

On the distant bow of the ship, Jiang Zhen withdrew his Conqueror's Haki. The oppressive feeling that had enveloped the entire shoreline silently dissipated, the boulder that had been pressing on the hearts of countless people was removed, and even the sea breeze seemed to come alive again.

He looked at the gradually calming white Qi flames on Shuiyun and Changqing, a hint of emotion flashing in his eyes.

Reversing Life Triple, that skill is really cheesy, and it's also undeniably cool.

Back when he was at the Sanyi Sect, Jiang Zhen had secretly approached Zuo Ruotong and asked if he could learn this unique skill. He had even decided that he would accept it even if it meant memorizing hundreds of Taoist classics and abstaining from meat and sex.

As a result, Zuo Ruotong examined him from head to toe and finally gave him a helpless smile.

His qualifications are truly hard to describe.

"In terms of cultivating one's life force, Quanzhen's internal alchemy is actually no less effective than Ni Sheng. The wonder of Ni Sheng lies in the role of the techniques derived from it." Zuo Ruotong once earnestly warned him, "Don't focus on one thing and neglect the other. When one's life force cultivation reaches a certain level, the effect of these fancy techniques becomes minimal. No matter which way the wind blows, I will break it with a single slap."

From then on, he diligently practiced Quanzhen Neidan Gong. While others relied on talent to practice, he relied on perseverance—like grinding water into a millstone, grinding day by day, year by year. After so many years of perseverance, he gradually made progress.

As the heavy, oppressive feeling that had been hanging in the air dissipated, a series of heavy breathing sounds and suppressed vomiting sounds rose from the shore.

The group of people looked like drowning victims just pulled from the deep sea. Some lay sprawled on their backs on the gravel, their chests heaving violently; others were hunched over, hands on their knees, trying to catch their breath; still others were frantically clutching their throats, their fingernails scratching red marks on their necks, greedily inhaling every breath as if they had never felt air so precious in their lives.

The man who had just been so rude was now sprawled on the ground, completely disregarding his appearance. He had his fingers in his mouth and was frantically gagging until he vomited bile. His body was trembling like a leaf, and he didn't dare lift his head.

He could feel a gaze occasionally sweeping across the area. There was no anger in that gaze, only a coldness as if looking at a lifeless object.

Jiang Zhen strode towards the crowd.

His pace was neither hurried nor slow.

As Jiang Zhen approached, these people reacted as if they had encountered a bulldozer charging towards them. Their bodies reacted faster than their brains, scrambling and rolling to the sides, creating a wide path through the rocky wasteland that led all the way to King Nathan.

"Is this the world destroyer...?"

"The two words behind him... justice... are fucking ironic, but also fucking terrifying."

Whispers rippled through the crowd, lips barely touching the ears. No one dared let their voices escape. No one dared to look Jiang Zhen in the eye. Faced with this overwhelming aura, Nathan Island's once-proud reputation as a "lawless land" seemed like a pathetic joke.

Jiang Zhen walked up to Nathan and stopped. There were three steps between them.

King Nathan finally straightened up, but his knees were still trembling slightly; his body was not obeying his mind. It was a tremor on a spiritual level, completely unrelated to willpower.

“This powerful being,” King Nathan spoke, his voice hoarse, “Nathan Island has always remained uninvolved in worldly conflicts, and the divine tree has protected all its inhabitants. You have brought nearly ten thousand ships across the sea; are you here to destroy this place?”

Jiang Zhen sized up the so-called "king" before him. His gaze went past King Nathan's shoulder and landed on the towering, faintly visible tree deep within the island.

The branches and leaves of the sacred tree rustled and moved without wind.

“Destruction? I have no interest in that.” Jiang Zhen spoke, his tone so blunt that it left everyone momentarily speechless. “I never do anything that results in a loss.”

After confirming that Jiang Zhen had not come simply to exterminate the race, King Nathan...

He knelt on one knee, placed the scepter representing power horizontally in front of him, and lowered his proud head.

"The divine tree has conveyed its will. From this day forward, Nathan Island will no longer be a lawless place."

"boom--!"

As if in response to King Nathan's words, a deep rumble suddenly came from the depths of Nathan Island.

Countless birds took flight in terror from the forest, their dark mass obscuring the setting sun. The ground of the entire island trembled slightly, a resonance emanating from the roots of the sacred tree.

At that moment, all the Nathan Islanders knelt on the ground, their foreheads pressed against the cold gravel. They felt the most real and direct emotion emanating from the sacred tree—a tremor called "surrender."

King Nathan closed his eyes, feeling the will of the divine tree pounding wildly in his mind—a kind of absolute obedience to the superior predator.

“Nathan Island obeys your will.” King Nathan said in a slightly trembling voice, “From this day forward, you are the king of Nathan Island, Nathan… no, the king of the Outcasts.”

Jiang Zhen was somewhat surprised as he looked at the Nathan Islanders and their guards kneeling before him.

It was even simpler than he had expected. Before he even made a proper move—without even throwing a single heavy punch—his opponent had already completely surrendered.

"You've already surrendered? Your divine tree is more pragmatic than I expected." Jiang Zhen curled his lip.

But this is for the best. If people really went all out to fight on this island, and the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was unleashed, it's hard to say whether the island could be saved. In the end, there would be no point in taking over a ruin where most of the island had sunk to the bottom of the sea.

He looked around. The kneeling crowd stretched to the horizon.

Jiang Zhen suddenly found it somewhat amusing. It seemed that he had accumulated more and more titles, like pendants, becoming heavier and heavier—in China, he was the River-Shaking Dragon, the leader of the Canal Gang, and the Pillar of the East China Sea; in the West, he was the World Destroyer; and now, in the depths of the Pacific Ocean, he had inexplicably become the King of the Extraordinary.

"I'm not interested in kingship or anything like that," Jiang Zhen said casually. "Since you've already submitted, let's change the name of this island. The word 'Nasen' has a stale, old-fashioned feel to it; it doesn't sound good."

He turned his head and looked at the members of the canal gang.

"From now on, this place will be called the New World."

"The Grand Canal Gang's expeditionary fleet will first establish its roots here. From now on, I will be in charge of the rules here."

At this moment, Nathan Island was officially renamed the New World.

Jiang Zhen, the newly crowned King of the Outcasts, is preparing to use the new world as his base, carrying his immense shadow, to continue his advance into every place the sun can shine upon.

Have objections to Chapter 110? Go explain it to the tsunami.

"Yes, Boss!"

Master Feng shouted at the top of his lungs, his excitement impossible to conceal. He turned and roared at the tens of thousands of his brothers in the canal gang: "Brothers! Did you hear that? From today onwards, this place is no longer called Nathan, it's called 'New World'!"

"A new world! A new world!"

The men of the canal gang erupted in a unified cheer, the sound so loud it shook the pebbles on the shore. The gang members began their vigorous work of moving supplies and setting up camp, officially launching their massive new world-building project.

On the other side, Jiang Zhen walked through the dense primeval jungle toward the towering sacred tree at the heart of the island.

The light in the jungle dimmed, the dense canopy overhead overlapping each other, with only occasional rays of sunlight filtering through the leaves and falling on the ground covered with decaying leaves and moss, casting dappled golden spots. The air was filled with the damp scent of vegetation.

King Nathan, accompanied by several guards, followed closely behind Jiang Zhen.

He gazed at the man's broad back, his heart filled with endless bitterness and relief. Bitterness because Nathan Island's millennia-old independence and traditions had come to an end; relief because the sacred tree had been preserved, and the island's roots had been preserved as well.

“A new world…” King Nathan murmured to himself.

Jiang Zhen walked up to the sacred tree.

Upon closer inspection, the tree's size was even more exaggerated than estimated from a distance, its canopy blocking out the sky. The bark was rugged and ancient, like dragon scales, each line resembling the deep, ancient patterns that only a creature that had lived for an extremely long time would possess.

Jiang Zhen reached out and gently patted the rough bark with his palm; it was surprisingly warm to the touch.

The sacred tree trembled violently. Then, several thick branches slowly drooped down, like a docile hunting dog showing goodwill to its master.

"A rather intelligent tree." Jiang Zhen smiled; he could sense the immense vitality contained within the tree.

Suddenly, the divine tree emitted a golden light from the spot where Jiang Zhen touched it, and a slender golden branch slowly emerged from inside the trunk, its entire body radiating a warm glow, the patterns on its surface resembling liquid gold flowing slowly.

It slowly reached out towards Jiang Zhen's arm as if it were alive, attempting to wrap itself around him. According to the ancient traditions of Nathan Island, this was the divine tree choosing its "king," parasitizing the host with golden branches to share power and authority.

Jiang Zhen frowned. He hadn't read much of the Nathan chapter in the original story, but he remembered that this thing was a parasite living inside the body. The disadvantages were unclear for the time being, but the advantages were indeed of little use to him.

His current fighting relies on his own life force and the absolute destructive power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit. Even if this thing had no side effects, it would only be icing on the cake for him, and there's no need to stuff something that's just icing on the cake into his body. He doesn't need a piece of wood to share his burdens, much less make decisions for him.

"No need for that."

Jiang Zhen casually waved his hand, and a slight vibration sent the golden branch flying back into the tree trunk.

"You should just stay a good ornamental tree. Otherwise, a thousand-year-old tree like you should burn more slowly than ordinary wood."

As if understanding Jiang Zhen's words, the sacred tree rustled its dense leaves, gently shook its branches, and dared not make any further unnecessary movements.

King Nathan watched the entire scene unfold. At that moment, another piece of his worldview shattered.

Meanwhile, in the far reaches of the ocean, reconnaissance ships of the United States' Seventh Fleet transmitted all intelligence back to their homeland in real time.

In a secret conference room at the Hexagon.

"Report. An unmarked island has been discovered deep in the Pacific Ocean, and its coordinates have been locked. A large number of superhumans are gathered on the island. According to intercepted communications intelligence and cross-verification with information from within the superhuman community, the island was originally named Nathan, but has now been officially renamed 'New World'. The target, Jiang Zhen, has gained actual control of the island. His fleet is carrying out large-scale construction of permanent facilities on the island, presumably with the intention of a long-term stay."

Upon reviewing the intelligence, the American generals and officials all breathed a sigh of relief.

In their eyes, Jiang Zhen, a monster capable of single-handedly destroying a country, could stay in one place and do whatever he wanted, even if he became king or emperor on that island.

“Keep a close eye on Jiang Zhen’s movements.” A member of parliament tapped the table, his eyes gleaming. “Confirm whether he is determined to stay on the island permanently. If he is willing to stay there, we can take the initiative to show goodwill. Send people to the island for ‘exchanges.’ If he needs steel, cement, power generation equipment, or even women and fine wine, we will provide it.”

A Jiang Zhen who plans to farm, build roads, and construct houses on a deserted island is far safer than a Jiang Zhen who commands a fleet and sweeps across the seas.

The former means an individual can settle down, while the latter means the entire world is in turmoil. If we can use resources to keep this world destroyer comfortable and let him peacefully study his "new world" on the island, then most of the Earth can sleep soundly.

Thus, a strange situation arose.

Just a few months ago, Jiang Zhen was described by Western media as a "world destroyer".

But today, these countries' attitudes have completely changed. Cargo ships laden with building materials, machinery, and supplies depart from different ports, leaving long trails in their respective waterways, heading towards the small dot on the nautical chart that has just been marked "New World".

Those cargo ships had a deep draft, and their decks were piled with steel bars, cement bags, generator sets, and excavator arms disassembled into parts, as well as various equipment and materials.

Those who dispatched them all had the same plan in mind—this was "stability maintenance money," to use a few ships of building materials and machinery to keep that person on the isolated island in place.

People in Western countries and island nations finally enjoyed a period of peace.